ATLANTA — The question right now is why not. Not why.
The Mets convened top contender Francisco Alvarez with six games left in the season, because take your pick – hunch or genius, despair or inspiration. But it really comes down to why not?
Darin Ruf and Mark Vietntos brought nothing from the right side to the party and who knows if and when Starling Marte would return from his broken finger. Then Ruf came up with what the Mets call a neck injury and I really believe it. Because if the plan was to have an easy IL stint, they would have prepared Alvarez to go to Atlanta in comfort.
Instead, after his Triple-A season ended Wednesday, he drove from Syracuse to Miami on Thursday with a pit stop in the Carolinas, planning to relax over the weekend and return to Port St. Lucie Monday to get sharp. to stay in case he was needed. But the fire drill kicked off Thursday night when Alvarez in the car with his parents received a call from Kevin Howard, the Mets director of player development, to move to Atlanta.
He was called up and would be in the starting lineup on Friday, batting seventh against Braves ace lefty Max Fried to start a pivotal NL East deciding series.
It was imperfect. But perfect left when the Mets couldn’t get a DH bat without question by trade deadline and when Ruf tanked his right side of a pack. So the Mets will try to catch lightning in a bottle — maybe even all of the DH bats from leftists Tyler Naquin and Daniel Vogelbach too. So I sought out the foremost expert on that baseball cliché for his opinion.
“As a DH, go for it, man,” Joe Maddon said on the phone.
Maddon may be more familiar with baseball Hail Mary than anyone else. In 2002, he was the Angels bench coach when Francisco Rodriguez was called up to his MLB debut in mid-September and from then on played a key role in winning their still only championship for the Angels.
He was the Rays manager in 2008 when David Price – a consensus top 10 prospect in MLB then as Alvarez is now – was promoted for his debut in mid-September and was instrumental in helping Tampa Bay to its first AL title after being in it. converted moment from starter to relief. He was also the skipper of Tampa Bay in 2011 when Matt Moore was summoned in mid-September and actually started and won Game 1 of a Division Series against Texas. Two years later, Kevin Kiermaier literally made his Major League-debut for Maddon to play as defense in the last half of the regular season inning, then was put on the wildcard-roster for the same role.
And in 2016, after missing nearly the entire season, Kyle Schwarber (who debuted in 2015) joined Maddon’s Cubs after a handful of at bats in the Arizona Fall League to help them when the DH defeated Francisco Lindor’s Indians in the World Series. .
“You don’t rely on him to defend — so no game calling or throwing runners or blocking pitchers or anything that comes with catching,” said Maddon, who was fired as Angels manager earlier this season. “The easiest area to shoot is as a batter. Kyle came back and inspired the Cubs. So I don’t think I would have any qualms as a batter. If I thought he was that good, I would definitely throw it out.”
The Mets have publicly declined to commit to starting Alvarez in the last six games. Both Buck Showalter and Billy Eppler insisted that it be read and responded day by day. It wouldn’t be surprising if Naquin is in the lineup on Saturday, although it could be as an outfielder, as he is 3-for-6 with two homeruns off scheduled Atlanta-starter Kyle Wright; a stat offered by a member of the Mets.
Can Alvarez handle this burden? He arrived at 20 years and 315 days — the first Met to play at age 20 since Dilson Herrera in 2014. Alvarez is currently the youngest player in the majors. But he also arrived – like K-Rod, Price and Schwarber – brimming with talent. After an IL stint due to an ankle injury, he finished his Triple-A season with .362 in his last 12 games with three home runs.
‘Isn’t Scouting a premonition anyway? I mean, it’s an imprecise science,” Maddon said. “Everyone is on board with this man. They think this man is good. … They already know the answer. I mean, if they think this kid can hit, let him hit.”
Why not?
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